Simon Cooper

🚨 José Mourinho on how Jude Bellingham is making his job easier at Real Madrid: “Sometimes, as a manager, you have players who make you think about tactics for hours. Then you have players like Jude Bellingham, who make your job much easier. Honestly, I don’t know how many midfielders in world football can do what this boy does. He can play as a midfielder, control the tempo, win challenges, carry the ball forward, create chances and arrive in the box like a natural striker. If you need someone to defend, he does it. If you need someone to create, he does it. If you need someone to score, he does that too. Tell me, what more do you want from a footballer? There are moments during training when I look at him and ask myself, ‘Is this boy actually a midfielder?’ Because sometimes he plays like a number 10, sometimes like a number 8, and sometimes he is the first striker in the penalty box. The beautiful thing is that I don’t have to beg him to work. He understands football. He knows when to attack, when to defend and when the team needs him to take responsibility. I have coached some extraordinary midfielders in my career, but Jude has something special. He combines the mentality of a leader, the intelligence of a playmaker and the instinct of a goalscorer. And let me tell you something: this is a Ballon d’Or player. Not a player who is simply hoping to win it one day. A player with the quality and mentality to sit at that table and compete with the very best. When you have a player who can solve three different problems in one game, your job becomes easier. Sometimes I don’t need to give Jude ten instructions. I just need to tell him where I want him, and he understands the rest. Players like him are rare. And if Real Madrid want to build another great generation, Jude Bellingham is exactly the kind of player you build it around.”